Implementation of prescribing and treatment guidelines to reduce opioid use in emergency departments
In 2016, the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) launched the CHA Colorado Opioid Safety Survey to better understand the opioid work being done by member hospitals and health systems across the state.
Nearly 80% of all survey respondents indicated they were actively working on opioid safety. The emergency department (ED) was identified as the number one area in which opioid safety was a concern. More than 90% of participants wanted more information on how CHA could assist with opioid safety.
Following the survey, CHA created an Opioid Safety Steering Committee, with the goal of identifying how CHA could bring value to its hospital partners and help combat Colorado's opioid crisis. CHA developed partnerships with several organizations and formed the Colorado Opioid Safety Collaborative to improve opioid safety in Colorado EDs.
The Colorado Opioid Safety Collaborative’s primary objective was to implement the Colorado American College of Emergency Physician (ACEP) 2017 Opioid Prescribing & Treatment Guidelines in select EDs across Colorado. The pilot focused specifically on implementation of the alternative to opioid (ALTO) approach detailed in the Colorado ACEP guidelines. The collaborative anticipated that changing pain management strategies would result in the reduction of opioid use and an increase of ALTO use, without a reduction in patient satisfaction scores.
35,000 fewer opioid administrations during the 2017 pilot versus the 2016 baseline period...decrease in opioid usage by 36%.